Juudai Joufu Karasu
by Miss0Lemonade
Summary: A demon meeets another, and now her feathers are gone. who is this strange foreign girl, and why does Dobutsu hang around Karasu so much?
1. Prologue

Juudai Joufuto Karasu

By 0kitten0lemonade0

Long ago, in medieval Japan, there was a demon. But she was only a half demon. Her mother was a mortal woman who was raped by a terrible demon, Tetsuretsu. And because of the unusual conception, the woman Arika gave birth to an egg. The egg hatched, and a large raven chick was born to the mortal. This raven hated all of mankind, because the people of her mother's village killed her because she gave birth to a demon and because of their stupid pride and selfishness. She hated demons because of her wicked father. Most of all, she hated herself, for being a raven that had the thoughts and consciousness of a demon or human. She wished she had never been born.

One day, while hunting for food outside a small village, she found a strange man, standing all alone in the forest. He had a woven hat that cast his entire face into shadow. As she flew silently overhead, he looked up at her, and attacked her using some fire magic. The raven dodged, but not swiftly enough. The burn on her left wing stung painfully as she wobbled down to a tree limb behind the man. She turned and cawed angrily at him. He grinned and pointed his palm up at her, and a huge, purple flame shot towards her. She closed her eyes, and before she was lost to the flames, she thought to herself, _Well, he just saved me a whole lot of trouble_…

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"Why, oh WHY do you want to go look for that…flashy thingy?" Dobutsu groaned loudly. "I bet just a demon eating something…why do I have to come!"

"Because," Saibo answered slowly, "you don't know the way back."

"I do so."

"Then go." His no nonsense tone had a hint of humor in it. He looked at his long-time companion.

"Y-you don't think I-I'd leave you all alone out here d-do you?" He ruffled the back of his hair nervously.

Saibo just snorted. He could see straight through the shorter teen. "Whatever, Dobu-kun." He turned back to the bushes he was fighting with. He thought they were getting close to the source of the light he had seen. Dobu was about to start complaining again when he was hushed, and waved forward by Sai's hand. He peeked through the leaves next to the tanned boy, and started to blush at the scene that greeted him.

A beautiful young lady was sprawled out in the middle of a clearing facing the ground. Her arm seemed to have a burn wound on it, and by the awkward placement of her limbs, she must have been thrown to the ground. She also happened to be naked, and causing the redness on Dobutsu's face.

"Must be a foreigner," Saibo whispered next to Dobutsu's ear. "Let's take her into the village. If she's alive that is. Must have been robbed and…" he stopped. He didn't have to say the rest. The bandits around their village had been getting very bold lately, jumping any and all that seemed easy picking. Or perhaps this girl was a prostitute that had been dumped by her master. Either way, the two boys wanted to help this strange girl, it was the honorable thing to do.

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The raven felt very strange as consciousness ebbed in on her. She kept her eyes closed as she tried to remember what had happened. She tried to grasp all the brief glimpses of yesterday that swam in her head. She shot straight up as she remembered the man who attacked her with his flames. Then she realized what she had just done. Sitting up was not something ravens do. It's something humans do. She tried to stretch out her wings, but found only long, pale human arms that were feather-less. She awkwardly moved her arms until she could see the hands and fingers at the end. Ten fingers. She wiggled them, still in shock. Trembling, she moved the blankets off her body, only to find long legs that were wrapped up in a cream yukata. Ten toes, each wiggled in turn. She still couldn't believe it. She rolled off the futon and crawled across the bamboo floor to the wooden wall.

As she stood there, clasping the wall for dear life, the paper door to her right slid open, and a young man with green eyes looked from the messy futon to the violet eyed girl clinging to the wall.

"Er, hi?"

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Hiya! This is my third TT fanny, though I've only posted two. I have another Juudai Joufu idea, it'll be a prequel, so, if anyone likes this one, I'll post the one about the kitsune.

Quick translation note: Juudai Joufu means teenage warrior, which is the closest thing to Teen Titans as my secret source got. If anyone reviews in the next few chapters, I'll tell ya'll my source.

Rereading, the first couple of paragraphs sound really simple, but they're supposed to be like traditional oral folk tale-style, so...PHHT!

Bye for now!


	2. Chapter 1 Featherless Bird

Juudai Joufu chapter 2

The raven stared into the boy's eyes, wondering how she would defend herself when she didn't know how to walk properly in this body. The boy grinned awkwardly at her. "Hey there. Y-you okay?" he stuttered out.

"uh…I…don't know." What was going on? Why hadn't this boy screamed in terror at her. The bigger problem was how could she speak like the human, why was her body something else she despised? The anxiety of being so close to a creature whose kind had attempted to kill her many times made her swoon and fall backwards into the young man's arms.

"Hey, whoa, what's wrong? Hey!" His face flushed as he tried to contain himself. This lady looked like a geisha he had seen in Edo. She'd had the skin tone of the moon, and her hair was the stark darkness that only the heavens knew. She spoke enticingly to him at first, but left in a huff when she found out he was a poor orphan who lived in an old abandoned temple in a small village. She called him a burakumin or something as she strode gracefully away. He hadn't much liked her manner, but she was the most beautiful person he had ever seen.

He laid the girl back down on her futon. When he and Saibo had brought her home wrapped up in his raggedy top, their friends Komadori and Hinami, were worried that she wasn't going to make it, but she had pulled through the night. Hinami was especially watchful of the stranger, but would make little of it when the others questioned her.

The next day, the strange girl finally woke up long enough to figure out how to walk in her strange new body. When she felt strong enough to try and escape this strange cage, she cautiously slid the door open and walked down the hall, clinging to the walls to conserve her strength. She thought she heard someone coming down the hall, but she couldn't find a place to hide herself. She backed up around a corner, and prayed to her mother's spirit that the person would go straight and not look around her corner. It was a young man, his hair dark and unkempt. She let out a sigh of relief when he walked down the hall. Before she had let out the entire breath, though, she found a katana at her throat.

"Oh, it's you." He sheathed his sword and looked into the raven's amethyst eyes with his own glacier blue ones. "Didn't expect to see you up yet." She merely stood there, entranced by his beautiful eyes. At this moment, the girl Hinami walked into the same hallway. Her vibrant green eyes beheld her dear friend Komadori and the strange girl in close quarters. With a deep, steadying breath, she walked over to the others and greeted them.

"Good morning friend Koma-kun. I see you have found our guest of the house. It is glorious to see you alive!" She caught the stranger in a bone-crushing hug, making her squirm. She didn't believe the girl was trying to harm her, but the embrace was turning her face blue.

"Let…go…of…meee…" she managed to wheeze. She inhaled deeply once released and looked at the young lady. The red hair signaled that she was a foreigner, as did her brilliant green eyes. "Who are you people, where am I?" she asked. _And why aren't you trying to kill me? _she thought to herself. Not that she was really complaining that she was alive. She wanted to find out why that man had turned her into this human form, and rip him apart. If he hadn't caught her off guard, he would be in several different pieces right now.

"My name's Hinami and this is Komadori-kun," the strange girl announced.

"We live here with Saibo-kun and Dobu-kun. What's your name?" the boy asked her.

"My…name," the raven whispered to herself. She remembered what her human mother had whispered to her as a chick. "Chibi-karasu. That's what my mother would call me. I don't know any other name." Her quick mind had analyzed her predicament, and she had decided to go along with these mortals, live their life for a while. She didn't have any thing else to do with her life right now. Why not walk as something she hated as much as her other option? If that life was still an option.

"So, it's Karasu-san, then is it? Where do you live? Why were you unconscious in those woods?" Komadori was obviously used to interrogating people.

"Koma-kun, it might be best to let friend Karasu-sama have something to digest, seeing that it has been two days since her last meal." Hinami smiled gently at her friend.

Komadori considered this, and decided it was a good idea. They headed to the dining room, and waited while Dobutsu made lunch. Sweet white rice, soft tofu, stirfryed vegetables, all seasoned with soy sauce and ginger root. Dobutsu was the youngest resident of the old temple, but still the best cook. He refused to cook any meat though, so that duty usually fell on either Saibo or Komadori. Karasu, as she had been dubbed, delighted in the wondrous smells coming from the grill outside. She stumbled a little as she sat down. Komadori caught her arm, making her wince at the sensation of skin on skin. She mumbled a thank you, and settled into yet another unusual position for her-sitting down on her knees.

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Hiya! Did ya enjoy chapter 2? Is anyone reading this? AM I ALL ALONE IN MY OWN MIND!

Ahem, please review!


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